Update: believers in Yayang Church ‘caught in a storm of suppression’

Your prayers are continually needed for Yayang Church since the government crackdown earlier this year.

The storm that believers in Yayang Church, Wenzhou City, faced earlier this year has not abated – rather, it seems to have got worse. 

In December 2025, the major house church network became victim to government raids and over 200 believers were arrested. In January, the situation rapidly escalated when the authorities brought cranes to demolish the bell tower of the church, upon which hung a cross. The believers refused to comply with instructions to take down the cross, install cameras and prevent under-18s from attending, as well as other commands. 

Many feared that the whole church would be demolished, and in May, their fears came true – the entire church hall was torn down. The area is now under lockdown and taking photos is prohibited. Anyone who speaks about the church online runs the risk of arrest, leading many church members to total silence.  

Of the 200 arrested in December, 22 Christians are still in prison, charged with ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’. 

Yayang Church needs your prayers 

With increasing pressure and surveillance on house churches in China, gatherings of believers like Yayang Church desperately need your prayers. Their bold defiance unfortunately draws the attention of authorities seeking to eradicate churches that refuse to comply with the state’s ‘Sinicization of Religion’ campaign. 

“At the start of this year, we asked for prayers for Yayang Church. Today, we continue to lift them up in prayer”, says Caleb*, Open Doors local partner and country expert. “Yayang Church is caught in a storm of suppression. The authorities’ high-pressure control strategies and advanced surveillance technology make it difficult for believers to communicate with others or receive support. They need our prayers now more than ever.” 

Please pray 

• That the Lord will preserve the believers of Yayang Church, granting them strength, unity and wisdom at this time 

• For the believers who are still detained, that they would know God’s presence with them and soon be freed  

• That the Lord would protect, encourage and build His church in China despite the fierce opposition they face. 

*Name changed for security reasons

14 January 2026

Chinese church closed and leaders imprisoned for defying authorities

As Christians across China prepared to celebrate the Christmas season in December 2025, one church has faced a major storm. 

Yayang Church, a major church network in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, found itself the target of an unprecedented crackdown by the authorities.

China, which is number 17 on the new Open Doors World Watch List, has been ramping up the pressure on Christians in recent years. The ruling Chinese Communist Party sees Christianity as a potential threat, something to be contained and controlled. They are attempting to force churches to follow the party line through ever-more restrictive laws and regulations, including forbidding children under 18 to attend church, insisting that churches fly the national flag and monitoring church teaching to ensure it conforms with the official state propaganda.

So far, Yayang Church has resisted these demands. The leaders have consistently refused to remove the cross from their building or to install cameras. Nor have they excluded under-18s from their worship.

It’s a courageous act of defiance. But the problem with courageous defiance is that it makes you a target.

Police crackdown 

Things came to a head in mid-December 2025, when more than a thousand police officers, members of the special forces and firefighters surrounded one of the churches’ main meetings. Over 200 believers were taken away on the spot.

“The police crackdown was really rough and heavy-handed,” said one church member. “Believers were forcibly taken away, and even their vehicles parked at the church were seized for several days in the search for evidence.”

Although most were released within 24 hours, around twenty leaders and church workers still remain in detention, held under unjust charges. Lawyers who sought to defend them have faced repeated obstruction.

In the days since, the pressure has been constant. Police broke into the home of one believer, tearing the place apart in search of ‘evidence’ and leaving the family scared and traumatised.

Some believers and their families are clearly being watched, and anyone who tries to reach out to them risks getting implicated. The authorities keep pressing, determined to find something they can twist into false charges against those who are still detained.

Tensions rise in January 

January saw another raid, with hundreds of armed police and special forces surrounding and sealing off the main building of Yayang Church. Scaffolding and barricades were constructed around the church, and cranes and bulldozers have been brought in. A video on the BBC appears to show part of the church being taken down.

The site has been surrounded by heavy surveillance, and photography has been strictly prohibited. Several people have already been taken away and questioned by the police simply for posting comments about the church.

No one knows what will happen next. Are the authorities going to remove the cross? Or will they dismantle the entire church building?

A call to prayer

“Our brothers and sisters are facing relentless pressure, and they urgently need the prayers of all,” said other house church leaders in the region.

“We firmly believe that everything is under God’s sovereign hand. In the midst of the storm, the Lord walks with us. Please pray earnestly for Yayang Church, and stand with the believers who are enduring persecution.”